Underplayed Gems

March of Happiness (1999)

March of Happiness poster
Original title
天馬茶房
Directed by
Lin Cheng-Sheng
Genre
drama film, war film, romance film
Country
Taiwan
Runtime
1h 33m
Rating
6.4 of 10 from 7 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A teenage romance blossoms between members of a performing troupe during the Japanese occupation and the 228 Massacre in Taiwan. The story follows a young couple as they navigate love and loss against a backdrop of political turmoil and historical events.

bittersweethistoricalromanticpoignantslow-pacedmelancholicintimatetender

What happens

March of Happiness is a 1999 Taiwanese film directed by Lin Cheng-sheng. It tells the story of a teenage romance in a performing troupe set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation and the 228 Massacre. Several characters are either historical or based on historical people. The film was Taiwan's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards, but did not manage to receive a nomination. The film was also screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. There are two slightly different versions. In the TV version shown on Formosa Television, the film ends with both protagonists singing the theme song together, even though the male protagonist was already dead. In the cinema version, the film ends with the female protagonist singing the song by herself in a much slower tempo. The TV version is about 9 minutes longer. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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